


The Homo Sapiens Agenda

by someofthissomeofthat11011



Series: Spierfeld Week <3 [7]
Category: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda - Becky Albertalli
Genre: Coming Out, M/M, Spierfeld Week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-15
Updated: 2018-04-15
Packaged: 2019-04-23 03:00:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14323110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/someofthissomeofthat11011/pseuds/someofthissomeofthat11011
Summary: Martin outed Simon to the school and the next day right after Spencer and Aaron make fun of Simon in the cafeteria, Martin tries to apologize. Simon flips out on him and Nick, Leah, and Abby get an idea.





	The Homo Sapiens Agenda

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Spierfeld Day 7: Coming Out.
> 
> Also, as a general disclaimer, I HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE, HATE the BS Simon’s friends pulled in the movie. Like he was just outed to the entire school and you’re gonna leave him with no one? Nuh uh. I'm not saying it was unrealistic, but I was hella pissed about that. So I took that frustration and turned it into something.

 

Simon stared at Spencer and Aaron who were ushered out of the cafeteria by a furious Ms. Albright. His face was flushed and he could feel his heart pounding in his chest. It was hard for him to wrap his head around what had just happened and was made all the worse by the fact that everyone’s eyes were on him. He tried to calm himself down as he went to rejoin his friends at their table. By the looks they were giving him, he had to believe they wouldn’t push him aside right now. Before he got far, Martin came up to him. Simon groaned. He really could not handle this right now.

“Simon, can we talk?”

“I don’t have anything to say to you,” Simon said angrily. What about what just happened made Martin think Simon would want anything to do with him? It also didn’t escape his notice that he still had everyone’s attention and he was sure they were eager to see if there was going to be a part 2 to their lunchtime entertainment. He started to walk past Martin, but Martin was clearly unaware that their conversation was over.

“Look, I was upset after the homecoming game. I just wanted people to focus on something else. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize people still did shit like that. I didn’t realize this was gonna be such a big deal.”

Simon snapped. He had been so close to his breaking point and that had pushed him past it. “I don’t care if you didn’t realize that my coming out would be a big deal! Look, you don’t get to decide that. You don’t have to come out, I do! You don’t know what it’s like to have to hide who you are and to want to wait for the perfect moment to tell your family and friends. You don’t know what it’s like to hold your breath, because if you let it out, someone might see the real you before you’re ready for them to know. You don’t know what it’s like to be the person that’s supposed to come out. The one light in this shitty experience that’s coming out as gay, is that it gets to be my thing. I have to come out, I have to tell everyone that I’m gay, but I’m supposed to be the one that does it. I’m supposed to be the one that decides when and where and how and who knows and how I get to say it. That’s supposed to be my thing! And you took that away from me. So can you do me a favor and get the fuck away from me!” Simon knew he was yelling and that he had everyone’s undivided attention in the cafeteria. He also knew that if he didn’t leave now, he was going to do something exceptionally stupid like punch Martin. Though that didn’t seem like the worst decision in the world and he was sure it would make him feel better. The last thing he needed was his parents grounding him because he got in a fight at school.

So, Simon turned and ran. He ignored the teachers that called out to him as he was running through the hallways and the security guard that stood up when he raced through the lobby to the front doors. He didn’t stop running until he reached his car. When he got in his car, he could barely see because of the tears that were streaming down his cheeks. He had an overwhelming desire to hit something, just to make all the pain go away. He punched his steering wheel, but it did nothing to touch the emotions that made him feel like he was choking. He pressed his hand down on his horn, not caring if the entire school was disrupted by the piercing sound.

He sat in his car for well over an hour before he calmed down enough to drive. When he did, he went home and locked himself in his bedroom. He knew it was childish, but he needed a few hours to bask in his self-pity. He needed one night to escape from reality. He refused to come out when his parents called him for dinner and eventually he cried himself out and fell into a fitful sleep.

Once Simon left the cafeteria, Nick, Leah, and Abby had figuratively put their heads together. “We need to do something,” Abby said seriously.

“We could punch Martin,” Nick said. He was still glaring at Martin and his hands were bunched into fists.

“No,” Leah suddenly said. “That’s the opposite of what we should do. We need to do something to help Simon see that we don’t care that he’s gay. Something that will show him we’re sorry.”

“Actually, I think there is something else we need to do,” Bram said quietly. “I have an idea.”

They stared at Bram for a moment as he explained what he wanted to do. “Are you sure you’re ready for that man?” Nick asked.

Bram nodded, and they started to plan.

The next day, Simon had his hood pulled up and his headphones on when he entered school. He went straight to his locker and then straight to class, avoiding eye contact and any possible forms of conversation. When he got to class, he put his head down on his desk and braced himself for another day from hell. His parents refused to let him stay home from school and had gone as far as to threaten to take away his car privileges. Simon had almost thought it would be worth it, but the thought of being dependent on his parents or the bus to get to school was more than he could handle. So he had reluctantly gone to school and had committed to drawing as little attention to himself as possible.

Simon considered walking right past the cafeteria and going to the bathroom for the entire period, but Leah, Abby, and Nick were waiting outside the doors for him.

“Hey Simon,” Nick said quietly.

“How are you holding up?” Abby asked. Simon shrugged. “That was a dumb question, sorry.”

“Come on. Let’s get some food,” Leah said. She gently guided Simon to the lunch station. “We’re here for you. No one’s going to bother you today.”

Simon reluctantly piled food on his tray, eager to sit down and retreat inside his hoodie if he had to. When they were finally back at the table, no one was eating, despite the food they had in front of them. Bram was drumming his fingers on the table and looked nervous about something. Nick and Abby were whispering something back and forth. Leah was looking at her milk carton as if she had never seen anything like it. “Ready?” Nick asked, looking around their table.

Bram took a deep breath. “Ready,” he agreed.

Suddenly Nick climbed onto the table, like he was reenacting the scene at the end of ‘Dead Poets Society’. “Excuse me? Students of Creekwood High. Can I have your attention for a moment?” Nick waited about a minute. “Hey lovebirds.” He glared at Rob and Brianne. It took a couple of seconds, but pretty soon all other conversations had died down. Simon stared. What was he doing? “As all of you are aware, on Christmas Eve, Martin Addison leaked that Simon Spier is gay.” Simon leant down as far as possible, desperately wishing that he had just chosen to walk past the cafeteria.

“After what Simon said yesterday, I really got to thinking about how unfair it is that only gay people have to come out.” He glanced down at Bram who nodded. “A couple of months ago, Simon sent an email to the mysterious penpal. I know we are all aware that Simon has that penpal because we all had the pleasure of reading multiple emails from them, thanks to someone.” Nick turned to glare at Martin before he continued. “In that email, Simon described the Homo Sapiens Agenda. He pointed out that everyone should have to come out and that it should be awkward and uncomfortable so that no one group of people needs to be isolated by it.” Simon felt his blood going cold. He had sent that email after Martin had taken his screenshots. Nick couldn’t be Blue. Nick was literally the straightest person Simon knew. Had he been emailing Simon as a joke? Simon closed his eyes. He didn’t think he could handle knowing that the person he had opened himself up to completely was his straight, best friend. “It is automatically assumed that straight is the default and anything else is a deviation from that default. I realize there shouldn’t be a default. I don’t care what you are, but I encourage all of you to think about coming out. Let’s take away the default and stop expecting people to conform to a specific sexuality. So I want to take this moment to come out to all of you. My name is Nick Eisner. I want to take away the default and say: I am straight.”

For a moment after he stopped talking, Simon wanted to disappear. What the hell was he thinking? They lived in the middle of conservative Georgia and he expected his classmates to climb on the tables and proclaim their sexuality? He was nuts.

Before Simon could escape, Leah climbed onto the table. “My name is Leah Burke. I want to take away the default and say: I am bisexual,” she said in a proud voice. Simon stared at her. He had had no idea.

Then Garrett climbed onto the table. “My name is Garrett. I want to take away the default and say: I am pansexual.”

Then Taylor Metternich stood up. “My name is Taylor. I want to take away the default and say: I am straight.”

A few more people climbed on their tables to proclaim they were straight. Then Ethan. “My name is Ethan. I want to take away the default and say: I am gay and proud,” he said loudly.

A short girl he didn’t recognize that he thought may have been a freshman or sophomore stood on the table. Her hair was cut short and she was wearing a baggy hoodie that fell to her knees. “My name is Katie. I want to take away the default and say: I am transgender,” she said. She looked around as if daring anyone to say a word to her.

Cal Price stood up next. “My name is Cal. I want to take away the default and say: I am bisexual.”

Simon stared around and his jaw dropped when a few students later, Bram climbed onto the table. “My name is Bram Louis Greenfeld. I want to take away the default and say: I am gay,” he said, his voice practically reverberated around the cafeteria. “And I’m Blue.”

Simon found himself smiling for the first time in days. He didn’t take his eyes off of Bram as student after student climbed on the tables. None of the teachers even tried to interfere. Simon figured they knew how important this was and maybe they knew they’d be fighting a losing battle trying to get kids to sit down. Several students proclaimed that they were lesbian, gay, asexual, bisexual, pansexual, and many other gender and sexual identities. It almost made Simon’s head spin. He had spent so much time thinking that he was all alone, that no one else could possibly understand him, when he was surrounded by people that understood exactly what it was like to feel like you don’t fit into society's expectations and plans for you.

When it became clear that no other students were going to climb up, Simon took a deep breath. He climbed up onto the table, his shoes thumping loudly and making the trays on the table rattle. “My name is Simon Spier. I am in full support of the Homo Sapiens Agenda. Let’s take away the default. I am gay,” he proclaimed. He had always thought that admitting he was gay had to be this terrifying thing, but he realized that with the right friends and support system, there was plenty of love outside of his closet. He looked over at Bram. He knew that soon, they were going to have to talk about them. Soon, they would have to figure out if they wanted a relationship and if they did, what they wanted it to look like. Soon, everything was going to change between them or maybe it already had changed. Simon was so overwhelmed with the display of support he saw in the cafeteria and so tired of hiding who he was, he kept talking. “For a long time, I was scared to be gay. But then I fell in love.” Simon looked right at Bram. “And I felt like I had to safeguard my identity and the identity of the boy I fell in love with. I was going to say that you can’t know what this means to me, but I think many of you can imagine the relief and gratitude I feel right now. Thank you for showing me we’re not as alone as we think.”

Bram was standing so close to him so when his hand brushed Simon’s and squeezed it, Simon couldn’t help but smile.

He may not have had the opportunity to come out himself and he may have thought Nick was absolutely crazy at first, but he felt the strangest sense of acceptance as he stood on the table, surrounding by people that had just officially come out as a variety of gender and sexual orientations. There were more people like him than he would have ever believed.

He didn’t know if this would be the start of a big change. Maybe thanks to today, one day straight wouldn’t be the default. Maybe the Homo Sapiens Agenda would pick up and would go school to school. Maybe it would become a national movement and kids growing up in conservative communities who can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, will one day know that they are not alone. Maybe one day, everyone will have to come out and straight won’t be the default.

He knew regardless, this had inspired a huge change in him. He would never again think he was so alone. He would never again believe that no one could understand him. That day in the cafeteria when so many people came out and spoke about their sexual preferences and even more decided that they would come out as straight, something at Creekwood High shifted. And it may never be the same again.

 


End file.
